Well, for some games, a Season Pass is a full year's worth of content, or maybe just access to their smaller DLC packs, or maybe not related to content at all. My R6 Siege Season Pass isn't related to actual game content, at all--just gives you an XP boost, some early access, some skins, and a little currency.

The actual problem is that publishers keep using the same or similar fucking terms but apply their own definitions to it. There is no industry standard for DLC/post-launch content terminology.

I saw on Reddit that you can get the game working with the Oculus DK2 on Windows 10 and .8 SDK despite the game not officially supporting that version. Is anybody currently playing this way? I'm considering getting back into Elite if I can get it running with my DK2 again.

For a limited time all existing Elite Dangerous players will receive a £10 loyalty discount plus the exclusive Cobra Mark IV ship when ordering the Elite Dangerous: Horizons through the Frontier Store. Discount will be automatically applied at checkout. The Cobra Mark IV will be added to your account when Elite Dangerous: Horizons lands.

For a limited time all existing Elite Dangerous players will receive a £10 loyalty discount plus the exclusive Cobra Mark IV ship when ordering the Elite Dangerous: Horizons through the Frontier Store. Discount will be automatically applied at checkout. Those who take advantage of this offer will be able to purchase the Cobra MkIV in-game when Elite Dangerous: Horizons lands.

On one hand, this looks like a textbook department miscommunication, e.g., some said "preorders get access to a Cobra Mk IV" and someone else wrote down "preorders get a Cobra Mk IV".

On the other...that doesn't really make it any better for customers who thought they were getting this. FD should throw em a bone. Credit these customers the cost of a Mk IV and call it a day.

Originally Posted by SmartBase

I really hope that includes better payouts and not having missions locked behind ridiculous ranks.

I think to games that have some of the more rewarding "side missions" (like The Witcher 3) and it discourages me, because realistically, we'll never get to that point. TW3 is a hand-crafted experience and the side missions mattered--if not to me, then to the NPC, at the very least. I don't see missions becoming more *meaningful* until NPCs are properly added to the game, but at least they can give us some good payouts for laborious or tedious missions.

A big part of it is that the missions just aren't that rewarding. This isn't a "carrot on stick" wish--I mean, craving a rewarding or fulfilling experience isn't far removed from being a basic human desire. If the only way to do that in ED is with a bigger payout, then they should do it.

I also wouldn't mind getting rare or upgraded internal modules as rewards, too. Something like MMOs:

Thanks for delivering my cryo-pod back to my station! I think my exploring days are over, for now. You might get more use out of this--I don't need the credits or equipment.

You have received 100,000 credits, as well as a reward. Pick your reward!

A5 FSD

E4 Multicannon w/explosive rounds

Black Friday paint job

OR, the super-rare chance for a super-rare reward/opportunity...

Thanks for delivering my cryo-pod back to my station! I think my exploring days are over, for now. However, I feel like I can't not tell someone about this...As I was flying over Planet X, I heard a strange signal. It was unlike anything I had heard before. Before I had a chance to explore, my ship malfunctioned on a refueling trip and I crashed.

The signal sounded...foreign. You should check it out.

Either chance of these things happening=me playing a lot of missions.

I feel like FD sometimes overthinks these things when they should just be looking over the fence to see how other games have already solved these problems.

Wow, that's ridiculous. I thought it was pretty clear that they meant free in-game since they don't even offer ships to be purchased on their own and never have. Why even mention that particular ship as a "bonus" and not the other ships they added with the expansion too?

Wow, that's ridiculous. I thought it was pretty clear that they meant free in-game since they don't even offer ships to be purchased on their own and never have. Why even mention that particular ship as a "bonus" and not the other ships they added with the expansion too?

I just added this in the reddit post--what was the intent, exactly? Horizons pre-orders have exclusive access to the Cobra Mk IV? Horizons owners, in general, have exclusive access? If not, why call out specifically that pre-orders get access to it, if everyone else also has access Day 1?

Note that I'm definitely not advocating for an exclusive ship for pre-orders, just trying to make sense of it all.

Wow, that's ridiculous. I thought it was pretty clear that they meant free in-game since they don't even offer ships to be purchased on their own and never have. Why even mention that particular ship as a "bonus" and not the other ships they added with the expansion too?

Because as a normal Horizons player who hasn't purchased "Season one", you're not eligible to buy the Cobra Mk. IV in the game.

It's a ship that is exclusively available if you already bought access to season one before you bought into Horizons.

Yeah, the actual situation is much worse than what I thought it was. I thought it was:

Pre-order Horizon and get a *free* Cobra Mk IV, which all other players can buy

not

Pre-order Horizons, plus own a copy of Elite: Dangerous, to get *access* to buy a Cobra Mk IV, which cannot be bought by standalone Horizons owners or standalone Elite Dangerous owners.

Originally Posted by DoctorWho

As someone who is new to this game why am I overheating in SuperCruise mode?

Does this happen when you're near a star? That can cause overheating, but you can also overheat if you jump into hyperspace near a star. Spooling up your FSD generates heat, which compounds the problem.

That makes more sense. Not a fan of exclusive ships though. I feel like everyone should have access to them.

In general I agree, but it's a variation of the Cobra rather than an upgrade and it is a bonus to reward people who purchased both seasons. It would be something different, if we were talking about a high end ship rather than an upper low-tier allrounder ship here. ;) In the end you get a non-competitive ingame item that identifies you as an early adopter. Neat, if you're into that sort of thing. :)

The only difference in that description is that one says such players will just get the Cobra, while one states that they have to buy it ingame first. I always understood the latter to be the case, but I haven't got a link where I got that from unfortunately. The former option is however what they did with the Season one preorders - an Eagle as alternative starting ship that was already parked for such players in a specific station. Albeit, the "Freagle" was not an exclusive ship.

Does this happen when you're near a star? That can cause overheating, but you can also overheat if you jump into hyperspace near a star. Spooling up your FSD generates heat, which compounds the problem.

I had it happen near a star but I also had it happen while I was approaching other destinations as well.

Finally, when I was approaching a docking station it went into an auto cooldown mode. Maybe I was trying to shutdown FSD at the wrong time?

What ship would you guys recommend to do planetary stuff? I'm guessing something with a big cargo capacity and the ability to hold at least 2 SRVs? I'm still kinda poor so I'm not aiming for the high end ships yet.

I just did my first landing with an Adder just to test the mechanics. Landing in pitch black was kinda tense but I managed.

Yep. It's got great internals but it's slower than all but three ships in the game. I mean it's terribly slow, Type 7's and Haulers can easily outrun it. The Cobra IV is great until you get interdicted in it, then it's a death trap in almost every case. If you love high waking out of every interdiction then the Mark IV is for you!!!

What ship would you guys recommend to do planetary stuff? I'm guessing something with a big cargo capacity and the ability to hold at least 2 SRVs? I'm still kinda poor so I'm not aiming for the high end ships yet.

I just did my first landing with an Adder just to test the mechanics. Landing in pitch black was kinda tense but I managed.

I have an Asp Explorer, and while it's a good ship the actual operating costs are pretty hefty if you manage to wreck it a few times and aren't making money back. It is however pretty ideal for holding two SRV's and still having plenty of room for other exploration gear. It can also hold a lot of fuel and make nice big jumps but it depends how you kit it out of course. I'd recommend that as a good explorer ship as it has always been designed for that role.

However, I don't play much now and I've not been making much credits in the game or even covering my costs anymore so I've been considering selling the explorer and trying the new Asp Scout instead. It appears to be the cheaper option for an explorer but with a similar focus so I'd recommend looking into that one personally. If I remember correctly the explorer costs quite a few millions so that would perhaps be something keep in mind for an upgrade down the line.

Only recently discovered, these mysterious artefacts currently have no designation. Despite much conjecture as to the nature of these objects, it appears that the scientific community is unwilling or unable to openly identify the artefacts' origins. Such mystery only serves to make these objects more widely sought after by wealthy individuals and organisations alike, no matter that their unidentified status automatically prohibits them form being sold on any legal market.

In this latest edition of our series revisiting key points in human history, award-winning journalist Fiona Parker discusses 'the missing' – the lost explorers who played a key role in the golden age of human exploration.

"Our preoccupation with progress means we tend to forget about those who fall by the wayside, but our present-day interplanetary civilisation would arguably not have come to pass without the pioneers of the mid-third Millennium."

"Between 2200 and 2700 the galaxy bore witness to a period of massive expansion, as huge numbers of expeditions and colonisation missions set off into the black. At the time, sending messages at faster than light speed was impossible, so it could take years, or even decades, for a message to reach its destination. In those days, you really were on your own, with nothing but your own ingenuity to rely on in times of crisis."

"We knew much less about the galaxy then than we do now, and scanning technology was considerably less sophisticated, so colonisation missions were particularly risky. Sometimes colonists were confronted with issues they couldn't possibly have prepared for, and many of the early settlements lasted only a few years."

"Of course, this phenomenon is not confined solely to the past. Only last year we lost Jasmina Halsey, the former Federal president, when her starship disappeared during an interplanetary tour. It's a fact both of our past and our present – an inescapable reality of life among the stars."

16 NOV 3301
The Money Matters news feed has reported that the market value of the mysterious unknown artefacts has dramatically increased. The report neglects to include specific figures, citing the "fluctuating nature" of the market, but does imply that the trade price has seen a significant upswing. According to Money Matters correspondent Roberta Unwin:

"The market value of a commodity can increase over time, of course, but dramatic spikes of this sort tend not to happen without a catalyst. Evidently, someone is paying a great deal for these objects. The question is: who?"

Little infographic on some notes--the other month, a huge number of Unknown Artefacts appeared around Merope:

I have an Asp Explorer, and while it's a good ship the actual operating costs are pretty hefty if you manage to wreck it a few times and aren't making money back. It is however pretty ideal for holding two SRV's and still having plenty of room for other exploration gear. It can also hold a lot of fuel and make nice big jumps but it depends how you kit it out of course. I'd recommend that as a good explorer ship as it has always been designed for that role.

However, I don't play much now and I've not been making much credits in the game or even covering my costs anymore so I've been considering selling the explorer and trying the new Asp Scout instead. It appears to be the cheaper option for an explorer but with a similar focus so I'd recommend looking into that one personally. If I remember correctly the explorer costs quite a few millions so that would perhaps be something keep in mind for an upgrade down the line.

Neat, thanks for the info. So basically I need to do more bounty hunting until I reach 5-6m to be able to afford the ship + upgrades + insurance. Got it.

Mh. You might have missed the fact where they have about 100 people working on the game continuously as well the upkeeping cost for some backend servers? Maybe also the fact, that they're not gigantic, filthy rich company with a portfolio of million selling E-sport or MMO titles or the quasi monopoly for digital distribution on PC (Steam) to sustain them otherwise.

Also the fact that things usually don't come free. And when they "do" for you - see f2p titles - they're either financed by other players buying into micro transactions or by other means.

What is this freeloader mentality? The fact that things have a price tag attached should really not be debatable.

Freeloader mentality? Haha. Not sure why people are being so overly defensive and condescending about this. No, Frontier aren't a huge developer with ridiculous amounts of money, but they sure as hell are competing in the same space for more or less the same time/money of players.

Anton Sugar's post was helpful. I think that planet landings should have been a part of the base game and was expecting features like those to indeed be added for free. I was honestly shocked to find out it wasn't, thus my posts in this thread. To be fair, the previous updates were free and quite substantial. As of right now, it seems way too bare bones for the asking price - but as has been said, perhaps this should be viewed more as an early access kind of thing in practice until the entire thing is in. Personally, I'll wait and see.

Here's a fantastic post from the old OT for anyone looking to explore. I'm trying to get it added to the Explore section of the OT here but it's pushing me past the character limit, so I'm gonna have to work it in there somehow :-|

Originally Posted by Funky Functionality

You'll want the farthest jump range to minimize your travel time. Decreasing your ship's mass (all ships' hulls and modules have specified masses) and fitting a higher-rated Frameshift Drive (FSD) are the two ways to boost your jump range. Taking this into account, your best option for an exploration ship right out of the gate is a Hauler. It's one of the lightest and cheapest ships--almost an even swap from your Sidewinder.

Modules come in a number of classes and ratings. The classes are numbered and increase in size/mass as the numbers increase. Each internal slot in your ship is numbered, which denotes the maximum class size module that can be fitted there. The ratings are E through A, though they don't necessarily get "better" throughout the range--it depends on what you want to do. D-rated modules are the lightest in their class, so a well-outfitted exploration ship will be fitted with mostly D-rated modules. You'll want to keep your power plant an A-rated module (thankfully, these are also the second lightest in their class) because they run cooler and will help keep you from overheating during extended fuel scooping, or, heaven forbid, you jump into a close binary system and find yourself a bit too close to one of the stars. You'll also want an A-rated FSD as soon as possible, which will give you the greatest jump range. B-rated modules are the heaviest and aside from the FSD should be avoided entirely for exploration builds.

Coriolis.io is a great site for getting to grips with all the outfitting options, and that link will show you what you'd want for a basic exploration Hauler. The 1.8 million total cost is mostly on account of the advanced discovery scanner, which isn't a necessity, but highly recommended (it will show you all bodies in the system, whereas the basic/intermediate scanners will only reveal bodies within a specific range of your ship). The 200k detailed surface scanner is, however, a necessity, and it will pay for itself quite quickly, as it greatly increases your profits from exploration data sales. To use it, simply target a celestial body and fly close enough to it in supercruise for the scan to begin automatically. Scanning distances depend on size of the object, so stars will scan from much farther away than planets and moons. This type of scan is also how you get your name tagged on first discoveries, though you'll need to travel a good distance away from colonized space to start finding those (roughly 1k light years before you're practically guaranteed to find them). Systems can still be "unexplored" for you despite other commanders discovering them first, but no worries--you'll still be able to sell that exploration data for the normal price. You'll get a 50% bonus in credits for selling data for completely undiscovered objects, and it's only after you sell the data that your name will be tagged to them on the system map. Completely unexplored objects will be shown as such on the system map, but they'll have no "Discovered by" tag.

Don't bother scanning asteroid belts--they're not worth any credits and give you no first discovery bonus.

Fuel scoops are a necessity, since there are no stations out in the uncolonized void at which to refuel--you have to get all your juice from scoopable stars (only O, B, A, F, G, K, and M type stars are fuel-scoopable). The scoops have no weight, so they won't hinder your jump range, and their scooping rates increase per their letter rating per class, as do their prices. Be careful with this--a Class 3 D-rated fuel scoop will gather fuel faster than a Class 2 A-rated scoop, but the latter will be exponentially more expensive on account of its rating. Always shop for fuel scoops by their scooping rate rather than their letter rating.

You won't need weapons outside of the colonized "bubble" of space as it's very lonely out there, but shields may be helpful when you return, just for some defense against interdictions.

There are tons of other considerations, but these are the basics. Good luck out there! Go find a black hole. The Eskimo Nebula would be a good place to start. o7

So I played a little of Elite last year and really liked it but I didn't feel like it had enough going to keep my attention. Loved the feel and mechanics though. This seemed like a good time to jump back in so I bought Horizons.

Couple quick questions though. Is there any reason for me to start from scratch or should I just pick back up from where I was? I had about 14k credits and a sidewinder still but I have no idea what I was even doing. I think at the time I was making most of my money by trading. Also, at this point, what is the best way to get back into earning some cash? I see there's a bunch of new faction systems and other goodies that I haven't read up a ton on.

Here's a fantastic post from the old OT for anyone looking to explore. I'm trying to get it added to the Explore section of the OT here but it's pushing me past the character limit, so I'm gonna have to work it in there somehow :-|

The "colonized bubble" is the colored influence you see in the powerplay map? Outside of that would be unexplored territory?

Originally Posted by Ravager61

So I played a little of Elite last year and really liked it but I didn't feel like it had enough going to keep my attention. Loved the feel and mechanics though. This seemed like a good time to jump back in so I bought Horizons.

Couple quick questions though. Is there any reason for me to start from scratch or should I just pick back up from where I was? I had about 14k credits and a sidewinder still but I have no idea what I was even doing. I think at the time I was making most of my money by trading. Also, at this point, what is the best way to get back into earning some cash? I see there's a bunch of new faction systems and other goodies that I haven't read up a ton on.

I started playing like a week ago and went all in with bounty hunting. Pretty easy to do and you can get 100k+ per ship depending on the size. Just stick to nav beacons or extraction sites and if the pirate ship is over your level, you can just wait until the NPC cops start shooting first. That way the pirate ship won't be targeting you and still get the credits for the killing.

Freeloader mentality? Haha. Not sure why people are being so overly defensive and condescending about this. No, Frontier aren't a huge developer with ridiculous amounts of money, but they sure as hell are competing in the same space for more or less the same time/money of players.

It has been known that planetray landings would be a paid addon from back in the Kickstarter (?), at the very least alpha/beta days.

Expecting a year worth of updates to be free is making you look rather condescending. Also expecting things to come a year before they're done is fruitless. When they aren't they aren't.

Which is the case for a lot of things were Elite is concerned - another topic - but it does help to read up least on the basic information before expecting something to be free.

So I played a little of Elite last year and really liked it but I didn't feel like it had enough going to keep my attention. Loved the feel and mechanics though. This seemed like a good time to jump back in so I bought Horizons.

Couple quick questions though. Is there any reason for me to start from scratch or should I just pick back up from where I was? I had about 14k credits and a sidewinder still but I have no idea what I was even doing. I think at the time I was making most of my money by trading. Also, at this point, what is the best way to get back into earning some cash? I see there's a bunch of new faction systems and other goodies that I haven't read up a ton on.

Courier missions are good for starters, or picking off weaker pirates at light resource extraction sites (resource sites turn up in metal rich or metallic rings around planets). If you only have 14k you're pretty much still at scratch, but income comes faster nowadays than it used to.

The "colonized bubble" is the colored influence you see in the powerplay map? Outside of that would be unexplored territory?

Not exactly. The colonized "bubble" actually extends out past the powerplay regions for quite a bit. If you set the galaxy map to show system allegiances then you can see exactly where civilization ends and where the frontier begins, as all unpopulated systems are gray. There are a couple populated systems out a bit from the bubble too, but they are rare and usually solitary.

Not necessarily unexplored, but not under the control of the powers. Anarchy systems can still have lots of traffic, especially from pirates.

Originally Posted by Mengy

Not exactly. The colonized "bubble" actually extends out past the powerplay regions for quite a bit. If you set the galaxy map to show system allegiances then you can see exactly where civilization ends and where the frontier begins, as all unpopulated systems are gray. There are a couple populated systems out a bit from the bubble too, but they are rare and usually solitary.

You can't establish your own settlements on planets (yet?), but you can gather materials to synthesize into temporary upgrades for your ship and SRV, and you can gather cargo to sell on the commodity/black market depending on whether or not it's legal salvage.

Prior to Horizons, they were really adamant about not letting a player "own" too much of space. However, now that we can land on 60% of the planets in the galaxy, and many of those planets are actually world-sized, I wonder if they'll be changing their tune.

And yes, minerals and mining ore can be found on planets. Ore can be refined and sold, while minerals can be used to synthesize boosts for your vehicles. Looting & Crafting is 2.1 and should expand on this a lot.

I'm getting some bad crashes while bounty hunting in high Res, seems to happen when a bunch of ships are firing on to one target and it's about to pop, instant lock up. Really annoying to spend the ammo and time to focus down an Anaconda only to crash with 1% of its hull left.

I wonder if it's possible to combine hand-crafted assets and procedural generation? I mean, more than just "here is the procedurally generated planet, now hand-place some art assets" but rather, that Stellar Forge could be programmed to place these more complicated assets in areas that make sense, geologically?

I wonder if it's possible to combine hand-crafted assets and procedural generation? I mean, more than just "here is the procedurally generated planet, now hand-place some art assets" but rather, that Stellar Forge could be programmed to place these more complicated assets in areas that make sense, geologically?

Yeah from what I know they are handcrafting all the cities, spaceports, mining facilities, etc and then placing them down. Roberts didnt want to use procedural anything in the game unless it was capable of producing high fidelity assets, obviously for a first iteration this got the tick as it does look good for a first run.

I know one of the worlds in 2.0 is suppose to have a massive city they are appparently working on currently, so the real example will be what that turns out like with this techn or whether those worlds are handcrafted to give that geographical correctness and idea that people live on the planet, not just dumping a city or settlement on a otherwise empty planet.

We will see though, time is not this games enemy since they have lots of $$$.

Yeah from what I know they are handcrafting all the cities, spaceports, mining facilities, etc and then placing them down. Roberts didnt want to use procedural anything in the game unless it was capable of producing high fidelity assets, obviously for a first iteration this got the tick as it does look good for a first run.

I know one of the worlds in 2.0 is suppose to have a massive city they are appparently working on currently, so the real example will be what that turns out like with this techn or whether those worlds are handcrafted to give that geographical correctness and idea that people live on the planet, not just dumping a city or settlement on a otherwise empty planet.

We will see though, time is not this games enemy since they have lots of $$$.

Yeah, I'm curious to see what's done with it. People are going crazy over that SC vid, but when it comes to procedural generation, it kinda feels like FD ate their lunch. I'm not impressed with the procgen tech, at least until we see more than a video that just flies over it.